Gate.



PAZIENTED AUG. 4, 1903. l-

I No. 895,178. Q

' j G. W. a: 0. E. coss.

GATE. APPLICATION TILED D20. 30, 1901.-

has

GEORGE W. GOSS 1ND CHARLES E. GOSS, OF BALTIMORE, OHIO.

GATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 4,

Application filed December 80, 1907. Serial No. 408,647;

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE W. Goss and CHARLES E. Goss, citizens of theUnited States, residing at Baltimore, in the county of Fairfield, Stateof Ohio, have invented a new and useful Gate, of which the following isa specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in gates, and relates moreparticularly to means for supporting a gate so that sagging of the gatemay be compensated for and the gate may be lifted at its free end shouldobstructions to the opening of the gate be encountered in the attempt toswing the gate from the closed position to the open position.

The invention comprises a hinged member elastically connected to thegate'so that the gate at its latch end is capable of movin in a verticalplane through a limited arc, am provision is made for limiting thevertical movement of the gate to prevent its free end from striking theground or in case of sagging of the gate to compensate for this sagging,and PIOX'iSlOIl is also made whereby the hinge member may be so fixed tothe gate structure that under some conditions the gate may not move in avertical plane at all but at all times the gate may move about itshinges in the usual manner.

The invention will be best understood by a consideration of thefollowing detail description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings forming a part of this specification, and in which drawings-Figure 1 is an elevation of a gate with the improvement attached, andFig. 2 is a perspective view of the improved hinged memher and so muchof the gate as directly coaets therewith.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a gate 1 composed of spacedhorizontal rails and upright and diagonal brace rails which may beindicative of an ordinary large farm or other gate and which need not ofnecessity be shaped or constructed as shown in the drawings. At the rearend the horizontal rails of the gate are cut off on a slant, asindicated at '2, and the bottom of the gate is supported by an ordinaryhinge 3 the stationary member of which is fast in a post 4. This hingeneed not be different from the ordinary gate hinge. The other or latchend of the gate is provided with any suitabie kind of a latch, indicatedat 5, arranged to engage a stationary member 6 fast on a post 7, all asis common in gate structures.

Stationary m ber 8 of the uP Per hmge of the gate receives the eye 9 ofa strap 10 extending through the rear upright members 11 of the gate,and also between other members 12 immediately adjacent to the uprightmembers 11, and on opposite sides of the horizontal rails of the ate.

The uprights 12 have each a longitudinal recess 13 in the edge adjacentto the uprights 11. The strap 10 is provided with a longitudinal seriesof perforations 14, and these perforations are adapted to receive a pin15 one end of which may terminate in an eye or hand hold 16 forfacilitating the manipulation of this pin.. To the end of the strapremote from the eye 9 is secured a. strong helical spring 17, the otherend of which is connected to a link 18 fast on another upright 19 of thegate.

The spring 17 may be of such strength as to normally support the freeend of the ate, or very nearly support the free end of the gate. Whenthe gate is mounted the free end is lifted to an extent necessary tobring the gate sa about horizontal, and the pin 15 is passed t \roughone of the perforations 14 so that when the free end of the gate isreleased this pin will engage the edges of the two strips 12 remote fromthe recesses 13. Now, any tendency of the free end of the gate to sag isresisted by engagement of the pin 15 with these members 12, whichlatter, ecause of the strain im ioscd upon them, may if desired be made0 metal. Suppose, however, that in the course of time the gate does sag.Then it is only necessary to lift 1 the gate to the desired extentandmove the )in 15 nearer to the post 4, and the gate will be held with itsfree end in the desired elevated position out of reach of the ground.Suppose, however, that because of ruts in the ground or uneven places orfor any cause whatsoever, the gate in being swung toward the openposition or from the open toward the closed position, should meet anobstruction, then the free end of the gate may be lifted around thefixed member of the hinge 3 as a pivot, until it is suilieient-lyelevated to override the obstruction. With heavy gates this operationwould be diilieult were it not for the presence of the spring 17 whichmay be made so strong as in a great measure to counterbalance the weightof the gate so that with little effort on the part of the persondosiring to lift the gate, the same may be elevated. Su pose that forany reason it is advisable to told the gate against being lifted, thenit is only necessary to remove the pin 13 from its position adjacent tothe outer edge of the strips 12 and insert it in a perforation 14coincident with the slots 13. In this position the gate is held asfirmly as though the hinged member were made fast by bolts or screws tothe gate structure.

The invention is particularly ap )licable to long heavy gates andrenders these "ates very easy to manipulate, especially in ocationswhere obstructions to the opening or closing of the gate are to be met.Furthermore, long heavy gates are liable to sagging to a certain extent,and this sagging may be entirely compensated for by the improved hingedevice, so that instead of using two gates to close a wide opening inorder that the evils of sagging may be overcome, it is possible to use asingle gatefor the same purpose, since even if sagging occurs it is nota material defect since the improved hinged structure provides a meansfor taking up the sa ging, should such occur.

t sometimes hap ens that animals are able to lift a ate am crawl underthe same, and this would occur quite easily with the balanced gateprovided with the hinge mem- T s ber 10 and spring 17. here suchinterference is likely the pin 15 may be normally inserted through therecesses 13, and this in no manner interferes with the use of the gatewhere obstructions to its opening or closing are found, since the pin 15may be removed from the recesses 13 and the gate may have its front endelevated in the manner already described, so as to clear theobstructions, and afterward when the gate is closed the pin may bereturned to the perforation coincident with the recesses 13.

What is claimed is:- g

1. A gate provided with a hinge upon which the gate is movablelongitudinally, and a spring connected between the gate and hinge forcountel'balancing the weight of the gate.

2. A gate provided with a hinge opening upon which the gate is movablelongitudinally, a spring connection between the gate and hinge forcounterbalancing the weight of the gate, and means for locking the hingeto the gate in different positions of longitudinal adjustment.

3. A gate provided with a hinge upon which the gate is movablelo:.git-udinall v, a. spring connection between the gate and hinge forcounterbalancing the weight of the gate, means for locking the hinge tothe gate in different positions of longitudinal adjustment, and othermeans for preventing the front end of the gate from dropping beyond apredetermined )oint while yet preventing the elevation of t to front endof the gate.

4. In a gate, a hinge member provided with a longitudinal series ofperforations, a recessed member fast on the gate in coaetive relationwith the hinge member, and a pin adapted to the perforations of thehinge member and adjustable with relation to the recessed member toengage the latter through the recess or exterior thereto.

5. Ina gate, a hinge member provided with a series of longitudinalperforations, a pin adapted to said perforations and to engage a fixedportion of the gate, and a spring secured at one end to the hinge memberand at the other end to a fixed portion of the gate.

6. A gate provided with recessed membels,

a hinge member provided with a longitudinal series of perforations andin cooperative relation to said recessed member, a )in adapted to anyone of the perforations either through the recess or exterior thereof.and a spring connected at one end to the hinge member and at the otherend to a fixed uortion of the gate.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own, we have heretoaliixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

Witnesses:

E. O. \Vnrsr, S. S. \Vnrsr.

